SETTING:

Shinano at the foot the mountain

CHARACTERS:

The aged mother- the main character of the story, who has the wisdom that brings to save and
benefited their land

The young farmer- the son of the aged mother

The daimio-the despotic ruler of Shinano but later on he learned to give importance the old folks.

THEME:

“A mother’s love is something that no one can explain. It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice
and pain, it is endless and unselfish”.

CONFLICT:

Man vs. Man- the only antagonist in the story was the daimio who proclaimed a law to immediately
kill all the aged people.

LITERARY MOVEMENT:

 Realism- the situation in the story was once happened in the history of Japan, not by
putting to death the aged people but abandoning them. It views the once history of a
certain country and the simplicity of life. The story also contains lesson and the language
used was simple and comprehensive.
“A mother’s love is something that no one can explain. It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice
and pain, it is endless and unselfish”.

The story of the aged mother is a folktale from Japan. It tells about how great the love of a mother
for her child. It was shown on their situation when the daimio proclaimed a law ordering that all the
aged people should be put to death. The order filled the heart of the poor farmer a great sorrow for
he loves his mother that much. Instead of putting her mother to death in the hand of the cruel law
he decided to give his mother a kind mode of death. He took his mother to the bare summit of
Obatsuyama- the mountain of the “Abandoning of the Aged” and planned to abandon there. On
their way to the said mountain the heart of the loving mother grew anxious for she knew that her
son will on danger on his way back because he was not familiar to the many mountain paths. What
the mother did she snapped the twigs of the bushes they passed and drop it silently on the path to
serves as a guide on the way back of her poor child.

“Let not thine eyes be blind, my son.” “The mountain road is full of danger. Look carefully and
follow the path which holds the piles of twigs. They will guide thee to the familiar way farther
down”.- These lines shows the unconditional love that the mother has for her son, an unselfish love
that smote the heart of the poor child and made him cried and decided to take his mother with him
backed to their humble hut in the valley.

He hid his mother on a walled closet for food beneath the kitchen. Time passed and they both feel
secure and safe until one day the daimio sent a messenger and again demanded on the people of
the valley present him a with a rope of ashes. To the despair of the poor farmer he told the mews to
his hidden mother. And her mother luckily come up with the idea and told him to make a rope of
twisted straw and the other thing to do. The despotic ruler was pleased of what he had witnessed
and asks the poor farmer if where he obtained that kind of wisdom. The poor farmer stated
everything and daimio listened and meditated in silence. Upon hearing the story he now decided to
abolish cruel law, and sees the importance of the elder to shape the society and said “with the
crown of snow, there cometh wisdom”.

The story shows us two important virtue- love and wisdom. Mother’s love is nothing can compare
nor measured; it is pure and unselfish and made of reverence. Truly we can say that we can found
heaven underneath mother’s feet for she fought cruelty with love and affection and true hero for
bringing out our courage to face the harsh realities of life. Most of all serves as our courage,
weakness and strength that guided us to walk through our journey called life.

In the saying “with the crown of snow, there cometh wisdom”- the crown of snow is pertaining to
the elders, emphasizes the importance of them in shaping our society. The word “there cometh
wisdom” explained that as we get old our everyday experiences makes us wit, and as we commit
mistakes learning comes. The old folks who undergone on the different challenges in life and had
survive serves as our guiding path because their varied experiences teach us to become wise; wise
enough to know right from wrong.